ecosystems

Onar Aam (onar@HSR.NO)
Tue, 29 Aug 1995 01:21:15 +0100


I agree that ecosystems shows signs of organizational closure. In
fact, Varela (one of the autopoiesis inventors) has theorized that
autopoietic systems belong to a larger class which he calls
"organizational closure". This broader term does not require a
definite boundary nor component production. Ecosystems definitely fits
into the category of organizational closure, but is there a definite
boundary? Component production? If there are then they certainly are
not staring us in the eye. I have problems imagining an ecosystem
having a clearcut boundary, and what are the components that the
ecosystems supposedly produce? These questions needs to be given good
answers before ecosystems can be deemed autopoietic.

But apart from this a strong case can be made for autopoiesis, even
when it comes to the boundary. Ecologists have noted that more mature
ecosystems are more resistent to colonization of new species than young
ecosystems. This definitely resembles the organizational homeostasis of
autopoiesis.
The ecosystem may be seen to compensate for the deformations
(invasion). I'm not sure, but I believe that the extension of an
ecosystem in many cases is bounded (i.e. a forest, an island, a
valley), either sharply or fuzzily. We may speculate that ecosystems
need "help" from their physical environment in order to be able to
create such a boundary. This, if true, suggests that some ecosystems
that grow in "convenient" places will turn autopoietic, while other
more openended ecosystems will remain just dissipative. (I'm all along
assuming that the food-webs of ecosystems somehow make up the
autopoietic component production network). This is all very
complicated.

Onar.